Marcus Stewart owes Derby boss George Burley thanks for showing faith in his ability to get goals.

And the Sunderland striker is determined not to let his old manager down tomorrow.

Stewart spent three years playing under Burley at Ipswich and is grateful to him for giving him the chance to prove he could score goals in the Premiership.

But there will be no room for sentiment tomorrow when the 30-year-old hitman lines up against his old boss's new team at Pride Park with the Black Cats looking to get Tuesday's 3-1 defeat at Stoke out of their system.

Stewart said: "I know George well and I got on well with him.

"He brought me to Ipswich and we went up through the play-offs in my first year there and then finished fifth in the Premiership in our first season in that division.

"The following season we were relegated and the club needed to sell players and I was then an asset who could be sold to raise some money and I moved to Sunderland.

"But I owe George a lot for what he did for my career.

"No-one knew if I could score goals at the top level but he had faith in me and those two seasons at Ipswich were the best times of my career to date."

Burley earned a reputation for developing young players at Ipswich and he has carried that philosophy on at Derby.

Stewart said: "George gets the best out of young players - if you're good enough, you're old enough is his motto.

"He brought a lot of young lads through at Ipswich such as Kieron Dyer, Richard Wright, Titus Bramble and Darren Bent so it is no surprise he has got young lads playing for him at Pride Park."

Sunderland's defeat at Stoke spelt the end of the Wearsiders' four-match winning run.

Stewart claims the most important thing is for the players to bounce straight back.

He said: "We've just lost our winning run and Derby have won two in a row but that shouldn't matter.

"We have only lost one game and we have to make sure that's how it stays.

"We have to win or at least get something out of the game tomorrow.

"It will be difficult but if we can frustrate them for half and hour and perhaps get a goal that will be a great start."